Courses

Catullus – Intensive

This course is dedicated to reading selections from the short carmina of a revolutionary young lyric poet, Gaius Valerius Catullus. Love, hate, betrayal, loyalty, invective and the art of writing itself are among the array of topics that Catullus explored in a variety of meters.
Cicero

Quintilian said, “For posterity, the name of Cicero has come to be regarded as the name of eloquence itself.” In this course, students will read Cicero’s First Oration Against Catiline and discover how the consul Cicero used his rhetorical talents to denounce the disgruntled aristocrat Catiline and thwart his conspiracy to overthrow the state.
Cicero and Latin Prose – Intensive

Quintilian said, “For posterity, the name of Cicero has come to be regarded as the name of eloquence itself.” In this accelerated course, students will read Cicero’s First Oration Against Catiline at a faster pace than in Latin 310 and will discover how the consul Cicero used his rhetorical talents to denounce the disgruntled aristocrat […]
Elementary Greek

This sequence of courses introduces students to the study of ancient Greek, specifically the Attic dialect. No prior knowledge of Greek, Latin, or another inflected language is assumed. The most common forms and syntax are covered within a structured program of exercises and readings.
Elementary Greek – Intensive

This accelerated introductory sequence is designed for students who wish to complete the Greek requirement for the Classical Diploma (Latin concentration) in just one year. It covers the basic vocabulary, structure, and grammar of Attic Greek in two and a half terms, after which some reading is done from Herodotus, Lysias or Xenophon. No prior […]
Elementary Latin

This introduction to the study of Latin is for beginning students and for those who have previously studied some Latin but do not place into Latin 210 or TR1. The most common forms and syntax are covered, except for the subjunctive mood.
Elementary Latin – Intensive

This introductory sequence serves two purposes: First, it offers students who have studied Latin previously, but are not placed into LAT210, a slightly condensed and accelerated path through the material covered in LAT110-230. Second, it satisfies the Latin part of the Classical Diploma requirement for students concentrating in Greek.
Greek Old Comedy – Intensive

This course offers a close reading of one or more comedies by the Athenian playwright Aristophanes. Irreverent, incisive and, above all, entertaining, the comedies of Aristophanes laid bare the foibles and failings of Athens’ democratic government and helped lay the foundations of modern political satire. Comedies read in recent years include Lysistrata, Clouds and Frogs.
Greek Poetry – Intensive

Depending on the interests of the students and instructor, this course offers readings in either Greek epic or lyric poetry. In the epic sequence, students will read at least two books of Homer’s Odyssey in their entirety and selections from the full twenty-four. Students may be asked to read the full epic in English to […]
Greek Tragedy – Intensive

Students will read a play written by one of the three extant Greek tragedians: Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides. Discussion and research may include such topics as comparison of other tragedies, ancient theatre production, the tragic literary tradition and its effect on modern theater, and how ancient Greek political life is reflected in the plays.
Homer’s Iliad – Intensive

Homer’s Iliad is the earliest work of Western literature and perhaps its greatest. In this course, students will read Book 1 in the original Greek, attuning themselves to what Matthew Arnold gave as the dominant characteristics of Homeric style: rapidity, plainness, directness and nobility. After completing Book 1, we will read selections from other books […]
Horace – Intensive

In this course, students study many of Horace’s lyric poems (Odes) and at least one of his Satires. Horace used his verse to discuss topics essential to fundamental human happiness in the face of inevitable changes both personal and political. In addition, his poems, which combine philosophical concepts with highly crafted artistry, develop a unique […]
Intermediate Greek

This sequence continues the study of ancient Greek from the first year. By the end of the second term, students will read adapted selections from Herodotus, who wrote about the Persian Wars with a multicultural sensibility ahead of his time. In the third term, students will have their first taste of authentic, unadapted Greek prose […]
Intermediate Latin

This sequence continues to introduce students to additional forms and syntax, including the subjunctive mood. After completion of this material, students will have their first taste of authentic, unadapted Latin prose. Not just a general, conqueror and dictator, Julius Caesar was also a man of letters and is often heralded as the exemplar of Latinitas, […]
Intermediate Latin: Conversational

Dr. Daniel Gallagher of Cornell University has said, “Latin, like any language, is mastered only when one can speak it. Yet the goal of spoken Latin, unlike modern languages, is not necessarily conversational fluency. Rather, by formulating one’s own thoughts into Latin and expressing them in real human-to-human interaction, one experiences the unique structural, grammatical, […]
Latin Elegy

Quintilian famously said, “In elegy too we challenge the Greeks.” Although indebted to the Greeks, the Roman elegists created a kind of personal love poetry never seen before in literature: a cycle of poems describing a love affair with one woman or one man. We will be reading selected elegies of Propertius, Tibullus, Ovid and […]
Latin Prose

Students will read selections of Latin prose from Caesar, Cicero, Pliny, Sallust, Seneca, Tacitus and the Acts of the Apostles in the Vulgate. What these selections all have in common is that they reveal the attitudes of elite Roman men toward women, slaves and foreigners. By focusing on the lives of non-elite Romans, we hope […]
Latin Prose Composition

In this course, students complete an intense review of Latin grammar while also reading selections of several Latin authors with an eye toward identifying the stylistic elements that make each author unique. Students then put their Latin knowledge to the ultimate test by creating their own original compositions in the style of different authors; for […]
Lucretius

Vergil said of Lucretius: “Happy is he who could understand the causes of things.” Lucretius was an ardent Epicurean who believed that the world was composed of indivisible particles called atoms and that the soul, also composed of atoms, perished with the body. In this course students will study De Rerum Natura, a didactic poem […]
Martial and Petronius

Although they wrote in different genres – Martial was a master of the epigram, while Petronius wrote something resembling a modern novel – the works of these first century CE authors are both written in language that is closer to the street than to the elevated diction of Cicero or Vergil. They are also full […]